Sew What You Love, by Tanya Whelan Review and Giveaway

I was given the chance last week to read and review a copy of Tanya Whelan’s new sewing book, Sew What You Love. First of all, let me say, I am a fan of Tanya. I’ve used a lot of her shabby chic prints and fabrics in my daughter’s room, including the recent hoop wall. So when I heard fromTanya, I was a little star struck.

One of my sewing goals this year is to break out of my quilting-comfort-zone and sew more bags, and get more comfortable sewing clothing. I have multiple reasons for this – partly to just expand my sewing skills and partly because I think I’ll be able to quickly burn through some of that fabric stash as well. 🙂

Feeling somewhat timid about where to start, Sew What You Love arrived like a burst of inspiration and motivation. Definitely one of the main things I look for in a pattern book, is multiple good patterns so that I really get my money’s worth out of the investment. There are around 30 patterns in this book and I can honestly say I want to make almost every one of them. I love these cute tops (above) – the Lila Shirred Blouse and the Go-To Top or Dress. Both are on my list for spring wardrobe updates for me and my girls.

Also included are 5 really simple but good-looking bag patterns. Two cute clutches and three large tote bags. All with very clear and simple instructions.

Saturday night I whipped out this City Tote so quickly. And I LOVE it. It’s now my new winter go-to bag for hauling all my ‘stuff’. The handles are integrated – meaning the handle is part of the bag, instead of cut and sewn on separately – making the project a really quick one.

All of the projects and patterns in this book are for very simple, but darling projects. The instructions are well written with clear diagrams. Even with my fear of “3-dimensional” sewing (clothes, balls, etc.) Tanya’s designs and instructions make me feel confident that I can make any of these projects. And do them in a reasonable amount of time. I’m so excited to try many more – and I’ll share the results.

Finally, I love that the patterns come drawn to full scale in a handy pouch at the back of the book. I have to say, anytime I see a pattern that requires me to make a trip to the copy place for enlargements, I know right then and there the chances of me actually making that extra effort are very slim. Because multiple patterns are printed on the same page (to conserve space and paper) you will need to trace the pattern you plan to use. I just used my giant roll of freezer paper to trace my bag patterns and was able to get right to work. Also, the fact that this book has a spiral binding makes it so easy to leave open on my work table.

Tanya is offering a free download of the Travel Checkers pattern to all of you.

Lastly, Tanya has kindly offered to giveaway a copy of Sew What You Love to one of you readers! Just leave one comment on this post. If you want, you can share something you’d like to try to break out of your sewing comfort zone. Giveaway closes Friday, Feb 3 at midnight, MST. GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Thank you so much for all the love on the HST Spectrum quilt – esp for reassuring me about the ‘bleeding’ triangles and the binding. Sometimes after working so long on a project you need a fresh perspective from someone else. I’m resolved to leave the quilt as it stands. 🙂

Also, the ADORNit giveaway winner has been announced. It’s Paula. I have emailed you Paula!

I&#39;ve been thinking about this book, so thanks for the review. I have mostly sewn quilts and a few things for my daughter. I would love to try a bag or maybe some clothing for me. Looks like a great book. I&#39;d love to win!

Looks like a great book. I can always use another bag. I&#39;ve been wanting to make more clothes too. I made my first dress for my daughter a few years back and she loved it. It&#39;s been one of things I&#39;d like to do again. This time maybe for me.

That red dress has me sold on the book. I&#39;m frantically looking for dresses for my tall 12 year old daughter–and maybe one for me too? I have to ask though, is the patten for misses/junior sizes, or is it just for little ones? Thanks!

THis book looks great! Clothes are definately out of my comfort zone but I interested in learing more about making them. I LOVE the Go To Dress so that would probably be first on my list! Thanks for the chance! Smiles~Beth

What a great looking book. Love it being spiral bound. Like you I want to try some different sewing this year. I&#39;d love to make some bags for myself. So many great patterns and fabric as well. I&#39;d also love to try to make some clothes for my grandson, who is one year old.<br /><br />Thank you for a great giveaway and a chance to win.<br /><br />usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com

what a great looking book – thanks for the giveaway! sewing clothes is something I&#39;d like to do that is definately out of my comfort zone. I&#39;ve tried a couple times, but so far all I&#39;ve made is a mess.

I&#39;d love to get this book! Part of my new years sewlution is to try more things! I&#39;m comfortable piecing a quilt top but clothes and bags scare me. I love the bag you whipped up and think that would be my first thing I make from the book. Thanks for the giveaway!!!

I think the book looks like a great addition to my sewing library. This year, my goal is to try sewing more &quot;out of my box&quot; fashions. I also want to broaden my horizons by learning more piecing and quilting techniques. Thanks for the wonderful book review!

ooooh, I came across Tanya&#39;s blog/site and book a little while ago and fell in love too. All beautiful projects I would love to tackle! The one project that sold me was the Go To Dress/Top. so cute and looks comfy for any day of the week. I&#39;ve not sewn any clothing for myself in a long time — I should again. Oh, I would be a very proud owner of this book!

Tanya is also giving away a free bag pattern to anyone who wants to Tweet or mention Sew What You Love on Facebook. All you need to do is provide a link to the Sew What You Love page on Amazon.<br /><br />OK, I posted the Amazon Link on Facebook….curious how Tanya will know I did it????

What a wonderful looking book! I loved the teaser! That little girls dress looks fabulous. I want to be more creative with quilting. Use scraps, sew as I go rather than follow step by step. I would also love to get better at altering clothes, fixing them, etc.

I would LOVE a copy of this book! I too am wanting to make some sort of bag this Spring. So many beautiful fabrics out there!<br /><br />Great review. Will definitely be adding this book to my list of &quot;must-haves&quot;!<br /><br />I also linked the amazon page for the book. How do we receive the free bag pattern?<br /><br />Renee

I think this is wonderful o fyou to offer this chance to get out of our comfort zone. I been wanting to make a purse for a long time, just am afriad to try, I make charity quilts and I would be awe struck to receive this possible enjoyment of something new. THANKS<br /><br />aka kingcooper0001@aol.com

The book looks gorgeous and I think I&#39;d want to make it all too!!<br />I&#39;m doing pretty well challenging myself this year; I&#39;m doing fmq on an actual quilt, doing some english paper piecing and generally trying to improve my sewing!

Oh that looks fab :o) I always trace all my patterns anyway (I&#39;m anal that way ;o) ) so that part wouldn&#39;t phase me at all. I&#39;m quite comfy with the various clothing/bag/3D object techniques, but I like buying craft books and learning new things anyway!

Once I get to my goal weight I plan on trying my hand at sewing clothes. The only reason I don&#39;t now is because I would hate to work so hard over something only to have to give it away in a month or two when it is too bog. So right now, to try something new I am working on Softies and Quilting.<br /><br />Thanks for the chance!<br /><br />Sue<br /><br />sweeney.susanna@gmail.com

All these projects from this book look so cute! My daughter was looking for a bag pattern like that last winter. And I&#39;ve had some checker boards quilted for a while and can&#39;t wait to read the freebee to to see how she made the checkers!Thanks!

I would love to break out of my comfort zone and start sewing clothing, but I think that&#39;s a little much at this point. I definitely need to work on sewing more complicated blocks and some bags. And I need to work on free motion quilting.

I need to try machine quilting…it seems so overwhelming. I need to because taking everything to the quilter is getting expensive!! <br /><br />Thanks for the giveaway!<br /><br />cwhelan@williamwoods.edu

Cool book. Quick question: is the go-to dress for kids or adults? I&#39;d love to make one for me (and would get the book to do so) but I can&#39;t tell from the picture if that&#39;s a teen or an adult. thanks!

This book looks awesome! I would love to try out that city bag pattern…it looks like it would make a good substitute for a very beat-up diaper bag I&#39;ve been using for awhile now and would definitely be something different than anything I&#39;ve ever sewn before! Thanks for posting about it!

Thank you for the giveaway! Love the variety of projects, and yes, that bag you made is very fun! I can see it hauling my &#39;stash&#39; of stuff I drag around with me to my grandchildren&#39;s houses! I would love to get back to making clothes and simple ideas to start with would definitely get me going! <br />thanks again!

I am mainly a quilt/craft sewer these days but I have been gently brushing off my clothes sewing skills lately. This book looks like me! I was first drawn to the red and wt dress in the first set of photos, sold.

I am anxious to try the Travel Checkers pattern. Give the grandkids something else to do in the car on long trips.<br />I would love this book so I can delve into some summertime sewing projects! Cute dresses!

Oooohhh… that looks like a good one! Lovely review. I&#39;d love to try making more clothes for myself, and the photos for the dress &amp; shirt look really comfy &amp; cute. I can bang out kids&#39; clothes all day long, but me? Yikes! Not so much. Thanks for the chance… fingers &amp; toes crossed!

Looks like a great book. I&#39;ve been trying to sew more for my younger kids. I sewed some leggings for my daughter and tried sewing some pants for my boys who are 3 and 17 months old. I want to sew some tops for my daughter too.

I would love this book! The bag is so nice. I used to sew clothing for the kids when they were small and would love to get back into sewing clothing and/or bags. Thanks for this great opportunity to win the book.

I have wanted to sew a purse for a long time, and it would be great to have pattern to work from instead of just an online tutorial that I&#39;m winging my way through! Beautiful, contemporary designs!

I don&#39;t know if the competition includes overseas addresses, but I&#39;d love to win… based on your pictures, there are three things I&#39;d like to sew straight away… how often does that happen with a book?

Nice one.. Just to add some tips. Learn the sewing tools, equipment and materials that will be used. It is very difficult to make a garment if you don’t know what are the needed tools to create one it in the first place. Make sure you know what are the right tools and materials to use in making your clothes.

I would love to win this book! I was just logging on to amazon to buy it but maybe I&#39;ll wait first and see if I win. :)<br /><br />I would love to sew some clothing for myself. I have been sewing quilts, kitchen decor and now pillows and would love to break into clothing. <br /><br />I will for sure be making the city tote you pictured. It looks great!<br /><br />Thanks for the chance to

I love to make soft baby blocks for my nephew! I made some that were jungle animals and had cute eyes and ears. He just loves how soft they are. I always add jingle bells to the blocks. I also added wax paper in the ears of the blocks on the animals so they crinkle! Such a great gift for a baby shower too!<br /><br />http://www.buzzellis.com/2011/07/weekend-through-pa-countryside.html

I&#39;d like to try making a more complex purse/bag. I&#39;ve made totes, but would love to have one with multiple pockets and zippers and more shape. This book looks great! Thanks for a chance to win! 🙂

Love the bag you made!! I&#39;m a bit of a bagaholic so that caught my eye first thing. I would love to try some of the patterns in this book. I haven&#39;t done much clothing sewing but I&#39;d attempt the top and dress pictured. Soooo cute!!

This seems just perfect for me – a beginner sewer. I have made a few small quilts and 1 or 2 bags but really want to have a go at making clothes. Except I&#39;m a bit scared of patterns as I just can&#39;t get my head round them! This book looks ideal to get me doing more advanced stuff…<br />(sabinamoolla@hotmail.com)

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